Narrowsburg chruch burgler sentenced

April 19, 2013 —

District Attorney Jim Farrell announced today that Joseph Flora, 19, of Narrowsburg, N.Y. was sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years in state prison for the burglary of the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and the Western Sullivan Library in Narrowsburg on September 20, 2012.

Farrell said that Flora and another man, Michael Wilson, 18, of Callicoon, N.Y., burglarized the church and the library, stealing silver chalices and other religious items from the church and stealing computers, a flat screen TV and other electronics from the library.

The pair were arrested by members of the New York State Police after an investigation into the burglaries. Most of the stolen property was recovered and Flora was ordered to pay restitution for those items that were not recovered.

Farrell said, “This burglary was particularly troubling as the two young men targeted a place of worship and a community library. They had no problem stealing sacred religious items that had enormous significance to the congregation and electronics from the library that were in the library for the use and benefit of the whole community. All of this did not seem to matter. The state prison sentence here was clearly warranted and sends a strong message that if you target our places of worship or our public buildings for theft - just like our homes - you will see the inside of a prison.”

Wilson has also pled guilty and is expected to be sentenced on June 28, 2013.